| Chapter Twelve |

A rainy day was upon the city, which meant that Seunghyun and Jiyong were trapped inside. Jiyong stayed in the pajamas that Seunghyun had bought him while they were out the day before for most of the wet day, leaving Seunghyun to do some much-needed cleaning. Jiyong just kind of watched him as he entered and exited the living room several times, some new piece of furniture or decor getting cleaner with every trip he made. He felt compelled to offer some sort of help, especially considering that he was a guest in his home. 

"Um...d-do you want any help?" Jiyong asked, his volume going from soft to audible as the words left his mouth. Seunghyun, who was once bent over, stood up straight and locked eyes with Jiyong, who had his legs pressed against his chest.

"Uh..." Seunghyun started with a light sigh, looking around at all the things he had accomplished. "No, I think I'm good. I'm almost done anyway. Thanks for asking, though." Jiyong only smiled faintly and nodded in response to the elder's words. "Do you want me to turn on the T.V. for you?" Seunghyun's question made Jiyong turn to him again, as he had been previously turned away.

"Um...sure," Jiyong replied, nodding his head a little. Seunghyun stopped what he was doing and walked around the couch diagonal from the one Jiyong was on before picking up the remote.

Within a few seconds of pressing the power button, the once pitch black screen lit up and displayed the company's logo before any sound came through the speakers. Seunghyun went to the guide of all the channels with the press of a little, red button and started flipping through them.

"Oh, I love this show," said Seunghyun as he stopped pressing the button marked with a down arrow. He sat down on the edge of the couch behind him, resting his arms on his thighs.

"What about your chores? Don't you want to finish them?" Jiyong asked as he looked back at the mop briefly. Seunghyun looked at him and then turned around to look at the work he had started.

"Nah," he replied, swatting his hand a little as he pressed his back against the couch. "It can wait. We most likely won't be going anywhere for a while anyway."

"Are you sure? Cause I can finish them for you," Jiyong offered, letting his legs detach from his chest. "I mean, it's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."

"No, no," Seunghyun said, shaking his head. "You're my guest and you shouldn't be doing anything for me besides breathing." Jiyong laughed a little in response to Seunghyun's words. "I'll get it done eventually."

So, it was decided and they just watched television for a while. Seunghyun's eyes were practically glued to the bright screen in front of him, and Jiyong tried hard to make his eyes steer clear of Seunghyun, but they had other plans for him. They landed on him every few minutes, but he pulled them away whenever he thought he was about to get caught.

Despite what he would have liked to believe, Jiyong was slowly falling for this person.

~~~~~~~~

"So, from then on I wanted to be an actor," Seunghyun said as he came to a finish on the story of his life. He had never told anyone about himself in such detail before, not even Minzy or Daesung. But there was just something about this Jiyong character that made him want to this time around. The alcohol probably helped, too.

"That explains why you're a detective then," Jiyong said, which made Seunghyun laugh.

"I guess it was one of those things that just happened, you know. I was a good enough actor to be a detective but not quite great enough to be an actor. Though, I don't do much undercover work, so I guess my acting classes never paid off." Jiyong laughed and Seunghyun patted himself on the back for not telling him about the whole case. "What about you? How did you become a..." Seunghyun started to ask but stopped when he couldn't think of the right word to use.

"A prostitute?" Jiyong finished for him, a slight and soft grin on his face. Seunghyun just sighed in guilt in reply to the younger's words. "It's okay, really. You can say it. There's no shame in it."

"Sorry, I just...I didn't want to like offend you or anything," Seunghyun said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"No, really, it's fine, Seunghyun," Jiyong said, shaking his head a little before he finished his can of beer. That was the first time Jiyong had ever called him by his name and Seunghyun couldn't deny that the way his name rolled off the younger male's tongue sounded like heaven. "It's your typical sob story." He sat the can down on the counter and stared down at it blankly as he spoke. "My parents were shitty at being parents and I grew up basically feeling like no one cared about me. So, when I got older and met Dongguk, I finally felt like there was actually a person in the world that cared about me. And I liked that, so I went along with whatever Dongguk told me to, which just happened to be sleeping with random men for money."

"Dongguk? He's your..." Seunghyun questioned, again not sure of what word to use.

"My pimp, my manager. It all means the same thing really." Jiyong chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "He's Hanbin's, too. He's the friend I called the other day. He's a lot of boys' pimp, actually. It's like one big, strange, messed up family." He was quiet for a moment as he smiled faintly, thinking about Hanbin and wondering if he was okay. He moved his eyes away and reached for another beer. "I always wanted to be a musician when I was little," he added as he cracked it open but didn't take a sip. "Music was always the one thing that made me feel safe no matter where I was. I guess I just figured it must mean something about my future, but as you can see, it didn't."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Seunghyun commented, earning Jiyong's attention mid-drink. "You're still young, so you could still do it if you wanted to, even if it's just on the side. I think life in general is very shitty and whenever you find happiness in something or someone, you should do everything you can to keep that."

"I guess I never thought of it like that," Jiyong said, biting down on his lip gently as he set the can down. "You know, you sound super smart whenever you talk and it kind of makes me feel stupid." 

Seunghyun laughed out loud, throwing his head back a little. "Sorry. I think it comes with age," he said, this time making Jiyong chuckle. In the next instant, Seunghyun found himself in a trance by the man in front of him. It was like when someone's entire life flashes in front of them right before they are about to die; it was tragic and absolutely beautiful.

"What's wrong?" Jiyong questioned, causing Seunghyun to snap out of his trance. Jiyong blinked at the elder, his cheeks colored a faint red from the intoxication.

"Nothing," Seunghyun replied in a dazed tone of voice, his eyes still locked on Jiyong's face. "Nothing's wrong at all."

Jiyong sat there on the tall stool, feeling completely flustered and confused, as Seunghyun picked up his feet and started to slowly walk towards him. The younger felt his body begin to freeze up as Seunghyun's steps drew closer and closer to him.

"W-What are you doing?" Jiyong asked, feeling his face heat up and not just because of the alcohol anymore. Seunghyun stopped right in front of him, their bodies only a mere few inches apart. 

Seunghyun then lifted up one of his hands and place it gently on Jiyong's cheek before saying in a barely audible voice, "Something I've been wanting to do." Jiyong began to open his mouth, as to say something, but couldn't manage to get any words out when he felt Seunghyun's lips press against his swiftly but gently. He widened his eyes and blinked them rapidly, his brain trying to process what was happening.

But when Seunghyun moved his lips against Jiyong's for a second and third time, his eyes began to fall shut slowly, his muscles and heart beginning to relax. Hesitantly, Jiyong returned the kiss right before Seunghyun broke it abruptly.

"I'm sorry," Seunghyun whispered as he took a few steps back. "It's probably all of the beer...I'm sorry." He prepared to walk away, but Jiyong--whether it was the beer speaking or not--wasn't going to let such a perfect moment end like that, not if he could do anything to stop it.

"Wait," Jiyong said, getting up from the chair and wrapping his hand around Seunghyun's wrist before he could get too far away. Seunghyun turned around, his eyes widened in shock. Jiyong looked up at him as he finished turning around completely. "You don't have to be sorry for anything," he said, shaking his head a little. Then, he leaned up and pressed their lips together, putting in a little more force than Seunghyun expected.

While this action caught him off guard, Seunghyun couldn't ignore the fact that it made his heart beat faster in absolute joy.

The kiss lasted a few seconds longer after Seunghyun kissed back, wrapping his arms loosely around the smaller's waist. They both pulled back due to lack of air and allowed their foreheads to rest against one another.

"Yong, I--" Seunghyun started to speak but was cut off by Jiyong shaking his head.

"Shh," Jiyong said, wrapping his arms around the elder male in a hug. "Don't say anything." Seunghyun blinked once and couldn't help but give into the small smile that was tugging on his lips. He then put his arms around him, returning the hug.

~~~~~~~~

Dongguk turned off the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition after he had safely parked his car. Hanbin sat in the passenger's side, his arms laying almost completely flat on his laps and his head hanging low as he stared at his phone. Jiyong had finally called him the other day to tell him he was okay, but he didn't tell him where he was. He hadn't heard anything from him since. Dongguk's connections didn't seem to get him anywhere either, so they were only left with one option.

"Don't worry, kid," Dongguk said, placing a hand on top of Hanbin's. "We'll find Jiyong no matter what it takes, okay?" Hanbin only nodded mutely and then they both got out of the car before heading to the entrance of the police station.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the officer behind the desk asked with a friendly smile once they appeared in front of her desk.

"Yes, I'd like to report a missing person," Dongguk answered.

"Okay, what's the name of the person, sir?" she asked after having nodded her head.

"His name is Kwon Jiyong."